End-gate for vehicles.



No. 687,574. Patented Nov. 26, mm.

c. E. PIERSON.

END GATE FOR VEHICLES.

(Application flied Mar. 5, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. PIERSON, OF RAYTOWN, MISSOURI.

END-GATE FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 687,574, dated November26, 1901.

Application filed March 5, 1901. Serial No. 49,97. (No model.)

To otZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. PIERSON, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Raytown, in the county of Jackson and State ofMissouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in End-Gatesfor Vehicles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification.

The object of my invention, primarily, is to afiord an end-gate whichmay be adjusted in position rearwardly at any desired angle ofinclination and when adjusted will prevent the waste resulting from theoverflow of the contents of the wagon or vehicle; second, to controlautomatically the movements of the end-gate in its adjustment to aposition above and transverse to the sides of the wagon or vehicle, and,third, to secure automatically the devices controlling the end-gate whenthe gate is moved from an inclined to an upright or closed position.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination ofparts, such as will be first fully described, and specifically pointedout in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a broken plan view of the body of a wagonor vehicle, showing the improved end-gate in a closed position and theextension devices upon the sides of the body connected with the end-gatefor controlling its movements. Fig. 2 is a side view of the Wagon asseen in Fig. 1, showing the end-gate in a closed position and in dottedlines its position when adjusted in a rearwardinclined position. Fig. 3is a view in perspective of the body of the wagon as in Fig. 1, showingthe end-gate in a raised position and supported by the sides of thewagonbody and also showing the position of the gate-controlling devices.Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of an alternate link-joint for theadjusting-rod. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the forward end of theadjusting-rod.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, A represents an ordinary wagon box or body,of which a a represent the sides, and a the bottom, of said body, withwhich the sides are rigidly connected.

B represents the end-gate, which extends in width from the plane of theouter surface of one side a to the plane of the outer surface of theother side a of the wagon-box and in height from the plane of the underside of the bottom a of the wagon-body upwardly a short distance abovethe upper edges of the sides a a of said wagon-body. I

The end-gate B is supported by a transverse bar C, which is rigidlyconnected with the under side of the bottom a atthe rear end of thewagon-bod y, a portion 0 of the upper surface of which bar extends ashort distance rearwardly of the rear edge of said bottom. The ends ofthe bar 0 extend in length a short distance beyond the-planes of theouter surfaces of the sides a a for the purpose herein described.

With the vertical edge portions of the endgateB are rigidly connectedthe guard-boards 6 Z), which extend at right angles from the end-gateand from the outer surface of said gate forwardly a short distance andoverlap the outer surface of the sides out of the wagonbody when hingedthereto. The guardboards I] I) extend in length from the upper edge ofthe end-gate downwardly a short distance below the lower edge of saidend-gate and as far as the under side of bar 0, and in the rear edge ofsaid lower end of thegu'ardboardsare notches c 0, out transversely tosaid boards, which notches receive the extended ends of bar 0, wherebythe end-gate is hinged to the body of the wagon.

Upon the outer side of the end-gate and extending the width of said gateare stiffening-bars-b' b.

\Vith the outer side of the end-gate at a point midway from its uppenrear edge of said guard-boards and secured thereto by staples c 0 Uponthe ends of the said bent portions of plates E E are loops or links 9 awhich extend horizontally in position.

F F represent the end-gate controlling or adjusting rods near the outersurface of the sides a a, upon the rear end of which rods are loops orlinks ff, which are connected with the links 6 a The rods F F are madeof the proper length for the rearward inclination of the end-gates andalso the elevation of the end-gate, the forward end of said rods beingbent at right angles to the link f, and thence parallel with said rod ashort distance to form the hooks ff, thence bent down- Wardly at rightangles to hooksf, and thence extended upwardly in the direction of rodsF and to a position a short distance from said rods, forming separatehooks f f Upon the outer surfaces of the sides 0!, 00 of the wagon-body,at a point nearly midway from the bottom a, in the direction of theupper edges of the sides a a, are stationary guide-rods G G, which arearranged horizontally in position and at short distances outwardly fromthe sides a a. One end ofthe respective rods G extends rearwardly as faras required to limit the play of the adjustingrod F and in the directionof the guard-board l) and is bent at right angles and extended upwardlya slight distance, as at g, thence extended in the direction of the sidea of the wagon-body, as at g, and the end bent in the plane of the sidea and secured to the side by the screw or rivet 9 The other end of rod Gextends forwardly the proper. distance circumscribed by the length ofrod F from its link connection with the end of gate (when the gate is ina closed position) to the hook f The said forward end of rod G is bentat right angles and extended downwardly a short distance, as at 9 toform the locking-shoulder for hook f, thence extended in the directionof the side 0001 the wagonbody, as at g, and bent in the plane of thesurface of said side and secured thereto by the rivet or screw 9 Whenthe end-gate B is hinged to the bar 0 and in an upright or closedposition, the hooks f f on the adjusting-rods F F are extended over andinterlock with the bent portions or shoulders g g of the guide-rods G Gand the gate. is firmly held in position, the forward end of the rodinclining downwardly and obtaining a strong purchase on the endgate. .Inthis position of the end-gate the guard-board prevents sifting out ofthe contents of the wagon, such as grain or other fine cereals, whichordinarily escapesin transportation. When it is desired to incline theend-gate rearwardly upon the hinged connection with bar C, the rods FFare raised from the shoulder g and upwardly as far as the hooks f f willpermit and the said rods given a partial rotation, which movementreverses the position of the hooks f f as seen in dotted lines in Fig.2, and said hooks are free to move upon the upper sides of rods G G. Theend-gate B is then inclined rearwardly the full distance necessary or toa position in which the said hooks come into contact with the bentportion or stop g at the rear end of rod G, and the end-gate is heldfrom further movement. In the rotation of rod F the link f turnsoutwardly upon the link a engaging with the lower part of said link.Instead of the links 6 andfI may employ a ball-and-socket or universaljoint, as seen in Fig. 4, in which the socket H is secured to the'sidesa a by the screw h, the adj ustingrod having the ball it connectedtherewith. The end-gate B is also permitted a movement upwardly, as seenin Fig. 3, to a position transverse to the sides a a and restingthereon, this adjustment releasing its connection with the bar 0 andenabling the ready discharge of the contents of the wagon, the positionof the endgate being secured by the rods F F. In an emergency theend-gate may be moved forward and placed fiatwise upon the sides, so asto afiord a seat for the driver. The rods F F are readily disengagedfrom the rods G G when the removal of the end-gate is desired andprevents accidental loss thereof when secured to the rods G G. When theend-gate is moved upwardly and forwardly upon its hinged connection withbar 0 and to a closed position, the rod F is first partially rotatedupon its linked connection, so as to turn the hook f downwardly, andpermits the hook f to move along the upper edge of the rod G, and at theforward end of said rod said hook engages automatically with theshoulder 9 Such modifications may be employed as are within the scope ofthe invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I now claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a wagon box or body and with the sides of saidbody of an end-gate hinged thereto, a gate-adjusting rod, and auniversal-joint fastening connecting one end of said rod with theend-gate, guiderods on the sides'of said wagon-body, and reversiblehooks upon the other end of said rod.

2. An end-gate-controlling device, consisting of an adj usting-rod, ajoint-fastening at one end, and separate hooks at the other end integralwith said rod, one of which depends below, and arranged transverse tothe other, and a guide-rod having bent forward and rear ends, one ofwhich forms a shoulder, substan-- tially as described.

3. The combination with a wagon box or body, and with the sides of saidbody, of an end-gate hinged thereto, and guard-boards connected with thevertical edge portions of said end-gate, links connected with and ex=tending horizontally from said guard-boards,

gate-adjusting rods having links at one end engaging with the links onsaid guard-board, and separate hooks at the other end of each rodintegral therewith, one of which hooks extends at right angles to thelink on the other end of said rod, and the other depending and arrangedat right angles to the former hook, horizontal guide-rods upon the sidesof said wagon-body, below the plane of the links on saidguard-boards,and having their ends bent downwardly at their forward endsto form shoulders,and also bent inwardly at their rear ends to formstops, and connected with the sides of the wagon-body.

CHARLES E. PIERSON. Witnesses:

JOHN T. MARSHALL,- MARVIN MINNEAR.

